Inconvenient truths: A public intellectual’s pursuit of truth, justice and power.

Public sociology involves challenging received wisdoms. Thus, it requires unusual fortitude, as these wisdoms are embedded in common sense, itself backed up by interests and sometimes force. To change what is taken to be common sense, such as neoliberal orthodoxy, therefore, can be accomplished most effectively through a social movement. To challenge conventional wisdom requires the discovery of truth and that can call for unorthodox methods, such as breaking into powerful agencies that hold official secrets. To challenge deeply held truths, whether they are deeply held by the powerful or the weak, can earn one long-lasting hostility, such as when I investigated the killings by the Philippine Communist Party. This is because there is an inherent and inescapable conflict between truth and power that will never disappear. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]